A Haunting In Storybrooke
by helterskelter3310
Summary: A few citizens of Storybrooke find themselves in need of temporary lodgings and end up in a shabby hotel on the outskirts of the town. At first they believe it to be deserted except for the old man who runs it but it doesn't take long for them to rethink their assumption.
1. Chapter 1

"This place is a dump."

"Regina this is your fault."

"How exactly is a flood my fault?"  
"Both of you knock it off." Snow White turned around to face her daughter and her stepmother. Emma rolled her eyes and stormed up the stairs passing Snow and Charming. Regina just glared back at Snow.. Shaking her head Snow followed Emma into the front room of a run down hotel on the outskirts of Storybrooke.

"Fantastic." Emma said sarcastically as she looked around. The entranceway was dim and cramped. The only window was a small one above the desk and it was so dirty barely any light came through. The fake chandelier above them was dusty, full of cobwebs and one light bulb was burnt out. There was a stairway to her left that presumably led to the rooms upstairs

"Ew." Ruby said as she entered switching her bag from one shoulder to the other almost hitting Whale as he followed her in. Belle made her way in also looking around and not looking the slightest bit nervous. Mr. Gold stood in the doorway, looking slightly disgusted by the place. Charming stepped out from the group and rang the bell that was in the middle of a solid wooden desk.

A door to the left of the desk slowly creaked open and an old man walked out. He was a hunched old man with pure white hair slicked back. He was wearing robes of blood red with gold trimming. He looked surprised to see anyone in his hotel.

"Hello, there. Are you folks lost?" He spoke with an accent that Charming wasn't familiar with but he was sure it was European.

"No, we need some rooms." Charming answered confidently.

"Rooms?" The old man's eyebrows raised, as if he believed they were pranking him. There was a strange aura surrounding the man that they all felt.

"Yep, uh five, no wait six. Six rooms, if you have them available."

The old man pulled a leather bound book out from the desk and set it on the desk raising a cloud of dust. His long nails scratching the surface of the book as he opened it to a page towards the front. The sound sent chills down Emma's spine. Regina noticed but for once didn't comment.

"If you'll please sign here," he pushed the book and a pen towards Charming, "then I can give your group rooms on the fourth floor." He gave them an unpleasant smile, looking each of them in the eye and then turned his back on the group to walk over to where the keys all hung on a rack. Belle stepped back closer to Gold who slipped his arm protectively around her waist.

"Here you go young sir. Rooms 401, 403, and 405 which will be on your right and 402, 404, and 406 that will be on your left." He held out his hand with six skeleton keys with numbers engraved on them for Charming to take. As he did so the man clasped his other hand over Charming's, pulling the younger man in closer.

"Good luck." The old man smiled that same eerie smile as he walked back into the room where he'd came from and gently shut the door again.

"Well," Charming started shaking his head slightly as if to rid himself of the memory of the old man. "Let's go to the fourth floor then."

The group gathered their bags back up and headed up the stairs. The handrail was splintered in parts but otherwise usable. The frayed carpet was bunched up in some spots and had holes in others so everyone had to be careful where they stepped.

"Why are we all they way up on the fourth floor?" Emma asked after they reached the second floor landing. "It's not like the first three were full."

"Well dearie this floor doesn't even have doors." Gold answered her question and pointed out into the hallway. Emma had been too busy watching her feet and trying not to trip on the ratty carpet that she hadn't noticed what Gold had. There were only 10 rooms but like Gold had pointed out not a single room had an actual door. The frames were there but each room was just a square bit of darkness. A few cans of paint sat out as if they'd started to remodel but never finished. The carpet was badly torn and there was a large water stain on the ceiling.

Emma started for the hallway but Gold pulled her back.

"Now's not the time for exploring. Let's keep moving." Emma didn't like Gold's serious tone. His normal teasing demeanor was all but gone.

The third floor wasn't much better than the second. All of the rooms had at least most of a door. One of them hung wide open and had a large battered hole through it where an eyehole would have been.

Without speaking the group continued their way up to the fourth floor. Belle lingered behind for a bit, transfixed with the open door. Gold nudged her a bit. She jumped and looked at him wide eyed as if he'd slapped her. But then calmed back down and made her way up the stairs. Gold looked at the door and then back at Belle and followed her up the stairs.

"Here we are, the fantastic fourth floor." Charming smiled a little as he tried to lighten the mood. Though he had to admit the fourth floor was in better shape than the others. Only two lights were burnt out. All of the doors were there and besides a large burn in front of the last room the carpet was only slightly worn.

"Okay so who wants what room?" He held out the keys. No one looked all that excited. Whale grabbed 406 which put him on the end room for their group. Ruby looked around for a second and grabbed 404 smiling slightly at Snow. Regina picked up 405 which was across the small hall from Whale. Belle plucked up 402 for her and Gold. Emma reluctantly took 403 which would put her next to Regina but it also meant that Snow wouldn't have to be next to Regina. Putting them that close together was just asking for trouble. With only key left in his hand Charming looked up at his wife as the rest of the group trudged off to their respective rooms.

"This'll be fun." She said as she took the key and went over to their door. A little metal plaque with 401 engraved in it was screwed into the door frame right below a small metal peephole.

"Hey, at least we're closest to the stairs." He gently put his hand on her waist as she unlocked the door.

"And the exit."


	2. The First Night

Emma shoved the door open with her shoulder and stumbled into her room. It wasn't as bad as she was expecting. The lights flickered when she turned them on but she was just happy they worked. It was dusty like the rest of the hotel. Everything looked well worn. The king sized bed had a ornate headboard and a large painting of a lighthouse above it.

She flung her duffle bag onto the bed, and explored the room a bit more. It smelled musty in the room but she'd had worse. She tried to open the window to get some fresh air but much to her displeasure it was stuck shut and no matter how hard she pushed or pulled it wouldn't budge. Giving up on the window she walked into her little bathroom. It was small and the claw foot tub took up most of the room. A cracked mirror was hung above the sink.

She went back into the main part of her room and flopped down on the bed. It was comfortable enough for her and was much better than the backseat of her bug had been.

In room 401 Snow was going through her bag and pulling out clothes. Charming was sitting on the bed and going through the drawers on the little nightstand.

"That guy downstairs gave me the creeps." She said as Charming closed the drawers and stood up to look at her..

"Careful, he might have bugged all the rooms and is listening in on our conversations." Charming teased his wife as he made his way around the bed to put his arms around her waist. He gently kissed the back of her neck.

"Probably. I'm just glad this is only for a little while. I don't think I could handle this being a long term thing."

Gold was stretched out on the bed gently playing with strands of Belle's hair as she lay with her head on his chest. Neither of them had spoken much since arriving at the hotel. He was taking advantage of this alone time and just enjoying being with her even if the surroundings were less than ideal.

"There's something strange about this place." Belle said softly. "I don't know what it is but I can feel it." Gold nodded.

"You're not the only one." Belle moved her head up off his chest so she could look him in eyes.

"Is it magic?"  
"Maybe. Not anything I'm overly familiar with that's for certain." She sighed and laid her head back down and he switched from playing with her hair to rubbing circles on her back.

"One thing I do know though," Belle moved again to look at him, " is that I've had cages better kept than this place." She smiled and rolled her eyes.

Later that night everyone was trying to settle down to go to sleep. Whale stayed up drinking some of the whiskey he'd snuck in his bag and flipping through a book he'd found in his nightstand. Charming and Snow were in bed but both lay awake. Ruby tried sleeping but couldn't so she opted for a late night shower.

She grabbed a towel from the closet and turned the water on, it sputtered for a bit and then ice cold water poured out. Ruby examined her face in the mirror, inspected her nose for blackheads. Just as she was poking at the dark bags under her eyes the hair on the back of her neck stood up. She dropped her arms and turned around slowly. She stepped out of her bathroom and looked into her room. Nothing was moving, no one was there but she was still on edge.

_It's just this building_ she told herself. _It's a creepy old building and that's it._

She checked the water coming out of the shower head again and it had finally warmed up enough for her to get in. She looked back into her room again before starting to undress. She pulled her shirt over her head and glanced into the room. Nothing. She unbuttoned her pants and slid them to her ankles and kicked them over to the corner of the bathroom. Next her bra and panties and then she stepped into the shower.

The water felt good and for a moment she forgot what she'd felt earlier and just enjoyed the heat. She started her usual shower routine. In the middle of shampooing her hair she felt as though someone was watching her again. It felt like there was someone standing in the bathroom, just on the other side of the curtain. Fear rooted her to the spot. Her heart started pounding. She yanked open the shower curtain to once again find herself totally alone. She finished her shower in record time and barely dried off before getting dressed and running out of her room and to the one next door.

Emma was tangled up in her sheets after tossing and turning for hours. The comforter had been kicked to the floor as she'd gotten too hot for it. Her shirt was wet with sweat and now stuck to her back. Sighing she rolled onto her stomach. She could hear talking through the wall. Apparently her parents couldn't sleep either. Just as Emma closed her eyes again she felt a breeze blow across her. It was just strong enough for her hair to be blown away from her face and it felt spectacular. The temperature in the room dropped. She started to feel goosebumps rise along her arms. She was cold when just a few minutes ago she'd been sweating. It was then that she realized her window didn't open and there wasn't a fan in the room. Emma shot up in bed and looked over at the window. It was wide open.

"What the hell..." she stumbled out of bed. The window that she hadn't been able to even budge was now as open as it could get. The breeze coming through was now quite cold and Emma started to shiver as she walked over to the window and gently touched it as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

Just as her fingers grazed the cold glass a door slammed shut making Emma jump. The window then slammed shut, again Emma jumped. Then she could hear knocking coming from across the hall and then another door opened and closed. The walls were remarkable thin. She made her way back to the bed. She picked the comforter up from the floor and pulled it up to her neck.


	3. Bad Vibes

The following morning Regina woke up stiff and sore. She'd slept fitfully. The others had been up all night making noise and it had kept her awake. Not to mention the clock on the bedside table had toppled over the edge twice during the night. She lay in bed, not quite ready to face the others yet. They all blamed her for the flood. Was it her fault? No, of course not. Technically it was Emma's fault.

The queen sighed. The clock's bright red numbers read 9:47. If she stayed in her room much longer the others would probably burst in.

She pulled the blankets off and swung her legs over the side of the bed. She started to make her way to the bathroom but her foot caught on something and she fell the ground with a thud.

"At least the damn clock didn't fall over again" she said to herself. Then she turned her attention to the culprit behind her fall. The strap from one of her suitcases was stretched out around her ankle. She could've sworn that the suitcase had been up against the wall on the other side of the room near the door. The other one was still there but this one, which was the smaller of the two, was out in the middle of the floor.

_Bang. Bang. Bang_. The door rattled slightly in it's frame from the force of the knocking.

"Everything okay in there?" Emma called out from the other side of door.

"Yes." Regina snapped back and immediately hopped up off the floor. If Emma did come bursting through the door Regina didn't want to be seen sprawled on the floor.

"Well, the rest of us are going downstairs in a bit. Mary Margaret swears she saw a kitchen or something when we came in yesterday."

Regina didn't answer right away. She didn't want to go spend the day with people who hated her but she didn't have much of a choice. There wasn't a lot that could be done around town and she didn't really want to try to find this kitchen later by herself.

"I'll be out in a bit." She kept her tone flat. Might as well try to keep it civil for now.

The kitchen was on the ground floor. The doorway was tucked behind the stairs and had gone unnoticed by most of the group. There was wooden round table in the center and a large stove with many cabinets around it. Six wobbly wooden chairs sat around it. There wasn't much in the cupboards or the refrigerator so they decided to save it for later and just have cereal that morning.

Charming, Snow, Gold, Belle, Whale and Regina all sat at the table. Ruby and Emma were sitting on the counter tops nearby. No one spoke for a couple minutes.

"How'd everybody sleep?" Charming asked.

"Didn't." Emma said through a mouthful of honey-nut cheerios.

"Like a baby." Whale said at the same time. He glanced at Ruby who smiled but looked down at her bowl. Snow turned towards her daughter.

"Why not? Did something happen?" Startled Emma stared at Snow for a bit before trying to speak.

"Uh, no. No. Nothing happened it was just too hot." Not her best lie but they didn't need to know that she'd been spooked by a window. She'd kept the covers pulled up all night like a shield from anything in her room even though it had been sweltering with it on.

"Oh." Snow said disappointed.

"She thinks we have a ghost in our room." Charming teased. He suddenly had their rapt attention.

"What happened?" Belle directed her question to Snow. She leaned over the table in interest.

"Well, the faucet kept turning on during the night." Ruby's spoon stopped halfway to her mouth.

"And," Snow cleared her throat and sat up a little straighter "I thought I felt someone at the edge of the bed."

"What do mean you 'felt' someone?" Gold inquired. He too was very interested in the story.

"I'd just gone to shut the faucet off, again, and had laid down for a few minutes when I felt the corner of the bed by my feet sort of sink."

"Sink?" Emma asked.

"Yeah, like it dipped down like it would if someone was sitting there but I could feel David next to me so it wasn't him. Then it lifted back up like whoever it was had gotten up and I heard footsteps."

"Are you sure that wasn't Ruby? She was out in the hall last night." Whale spoke up. He was leaning back in his chair with the same air of non-belief that Charming had.

"Yeah but I didn't go anywhere near their room." Ruby defended her friend.

"Where'd you go then?" Emma turned to the other woman.

"My room." Every head turned towards Whale.

"She was creeped out by her room so she bunked with me."

Everyone was silent. Snow turned towards her old friend.

"What happened?"  
"I felt like someone was watching me in the shower."

"Voyeuristic much, Whale?" Regina turned towards the doctor with disgust.

"It wasn't him." Ruby added. "I checked the room like four times and no one was there but I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep in there so I left. Simple as that. There's just a bad vibe in my room."

"This whole place is a bad vibe." Emma corrected.

After breakfast they went back to their rooms. With nothing to do Belle got antsy. Gold had gone over to Snow and Charming's room at Snow's request. She wanted someone with more knowledge of spirits than her to check it out. That left Belle alone in her room until Ruby came over. The two of them sat on the bed talking.

"The closet door opened in the middle of the night." Belle said softly to her friend.

"What?"

"Yeah just randomly opened and then shut. Rumple heard it too I could feel him move around so he could see it. A couple minutes later it closed and latched."

"It latched?" Belle nodded

"Yep. And then this morning he-" Belle stopped as footsteps started above them. Both of their head's snapped up to look at the ceiling.

It sounded like one person, wearing boots, pacing across the room right above Belle's. They could hear each distinct step. Belle stood up on the bed. Ruby tried to protest only to be shushed by Belle. The footsteps kept going. Back and forth at a slow pace from one side of the room to the other. Then the footsteps stopped in the middle. Another set started from further away. These ones were fainter and had a sharper sound like high heels. They grew louder as they came closer until the were almost right above Belle's head.

It was silent for a beat. Belle tilted her head so her ear was only a few inches from the ceiling. Then something heavy hit the floor above them with enough force that dust was shaken from their ceiling and Belle was startled enough she fell back onto the bed with a yell.

Belle hopped right off the bed. Grabbed Ruby's arm and pulled her towards the door. Once in the hall she let go of Ruby and bounded up the stairs for the next floor.

"Belle! Wait!" Belle kept going giving Ruby no choice but to follow her. Ruby darted up the stairs, she wouldn't let her friend face what was up there by herself.

Belle stood at the landing of the fifth and top floor. It was dark up here. Much darker than the other floors. None of the lights appeared to work so Belle pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and used the light from the screen to see into the hall. Ruby peered into the darkness trying to decipher what she was seeing.

In their little circle of light they could barely make out the doors to the rooms. The one to their left was closed. Belle aimed her phone to her right and the door on that side was wide open. The room beyond it was pitch black. Ruby felt eyes on her again. Not from the room but the hallway in front of them. She couldn't see anything but she felt as if there was something standing right there staring back her.

Without looking down she reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone too and pointed it down the hall. Belle noticed the extra light and looked in the direction of it. It didn't penetrate the dark enough for them to see very far but of what they could see the hall seemed empty.

Neither of them spoke as they went towards the room on the right. This would be the one right above Belle's room and where the footsteps had come from. Ruby tried the light switch to no avail. She didn't like turning her back on the hall so every so often she'd flash her phone towards the doorway as Belle ventured further into the room.

Most of the furniture was covered with white sheets that reflected the light from Belle's phone. There was layer of dust on the floor thick enough that little clouds were kicked up with each step. Belle crouched down and examined the floor near the foot of the bed. The carpet was long gone leaving just the bare wooden floor under the dust. She felt cold flood over her as she realized that if someone had been up here then the dust would be disturbed. She quickly swung her phone around and the only footprints up here were her's and Ruby's.

It was then that she noticed one of her prints was a funny color. She wiped her hand over it to get rid of the dust.

"Shit!" She dropped her phone and it shut off, plunging her into darkness.

"Belle?!" Ruby moved so she could shine a light towards her friend who was kneeling on the ground. "You okay?"

"Yeah I just dropped my phone." Belle grabbed it up off the floor and then pushed Ruby towards the door. "We need to leave. Now."

Ruby led the way out of the room as Belle turned her phone back on so they could have more light. They were back out into the hall and the creepy feeling had intensified. They quickly walked to the stairs but as they reached the first step there was a creaking noise behind them. Out of instinct both of them turned back.

Their lights hit the floor first and they quickly moved them up until they found a man walking out of the room they'd just been in. He looked at them, his black eyes reflecting the lights and opened his mouth wider than humanly possible letting loose a horrible shriek. Ruby shot down the stairs past Belle who quickly followed. Both of them ran as fast as possible back to the fourth floor. Belle tripped on the third to last step and fell down onto their landing. Ruby grabbed her under the arms and pulled her away from the stairs as doors opened behind them.


	4. Was It Real?

"You're lucky, Belle. It could've been a lot worse." Dr. Whale had been crouched in front of her applying a bandage to her head. She was sitting on the floor leaning back against Mr. Gold. Everyone had come running out of their rooms when the heard screaming and then someone fall hard in the hall.

"Yeah, we could've been attacked by that man. He probably pushed Belle down the stairs."

"What man?!" Mr. Gold turned around sharply to look at Ruby. Belle knew from his tone that he was glaring at Ruby. His protectiveness in overdrive at the thought of his love being hurt by someone. Belle gently grabbed his hand with her good hand. The other was scraped up pretty bad and it stung to move it.

"There was a man upstairs!" Ruby shouted as she stepped forward towards the group.

"Ruby we're the only ones in this hell hole." Whale said exasperatedly. He liked Ruby, a lot, but this whole paranoia business was getting a bit out of hand.

"No we're not! We heard footsteps above Belle's room and then when we went up there was a man with black eyes up there!"

"Well then we should go check it out." Emma offered. Ruby looked like she was going to protest but didn't so Emma continued. "Any other takers?"

"If you're going, I'm going." Snow said and Charming nodded in agreement.

"I'll go too." Regina said softly.

"What?"

"I want to help. I don't like the thought of some mystery man pushing people down the stairs."

"Okay." Emma shrugged. "You guys stay here and look after Belle."

Charming took the lead since he had a small LED flashlight that he'd grabbed from his suitcase. They made it up to the fifth floor landing. Charming did a couple passes across the hall with his flashlight. It was deserted. The other three pulled out their phones. The silence silence filled the hallways as the darkness pressed in around them.

"Seems empty." Regina whispered making Emma jump. Charming went to the door to the left and jiggled the handle. It was locked.

"I thought Ruby said it was above Belle's room?" Snow asked him softly.

"Yeah but if somebody's up here he could be hiding in one of these other rooms too. We should split up. Emma, you and Regina take the right side we'll check this side."

"Great." Emma grumbled but walked over to the right side of the hall anyway. Regina followed silently. Emma could hear Charming successfully get into the second room on the left. With her phone held out in front of her Emma led the way into the first room on the right.

"Why's it so fricken dark in here?" Emma whispered. As she walked around the room. Her light went across a desk with a vanity mirror covered up on it. She heard the clicking noise of Regina trying to turn the lights on.

"Well that's what happens when the lights don't work." Regina made her way straight into the room instead of roaming like Emma. She noticed a space on the floor where a large spot of dust had been wiped away.

"Emma, get over here."

She heard the footsteps of the other woman behind her and Emma's light joined Regina's on the floor giving them an even better view.

"Is that blood?"  
Emma crouched down near Regina and reached towards the stain. Regina's hand shot out and grabbed hers before she could touch it.

"_Seriously?!_" Regina hissed.

"Well it's not like it's fresh." Emma moved her hand back and stood back up. Regina kept looking at the stain.

"There's quite a lot of it. If somebody had been murdered here in Storybrooke I surely would have heard about it."

When Emma didn't say anything Regina looked up and saw she was staring out into the hallway. Regina looked where the light from Emma's phone was hitting. Nothing was there but Emma was fixed to the spot.

"Emma?" She whispered.

"What?"

"What're you doing?"  
"I feel like someone's watching me." Regina could hear the fear in Emma's voice. If she hadn't seemed so spooked Regina would've made a snarky retort but she didn't. Instead she directed her phone around the room. There was water damage on the ceiling. The lone window was painted black. The bed was dusty and had sunk in the middle like someone was laying there but Regina knew that old mattresses did that with time and repeated use.

"Next room?" Emma asked stiffly and without waiting for a response she marched out of the room and Regina followed.

All the other rooms on the right were locked and it appeared that Snow and Charming were having similar luck. Puzzled the group headed back downstairs.

"There _is_ someone up there!"  
"Ruby just calm down."  
"No! Someone attacked Belle! Do you think she threw herself down those stairs!"  
"You guys were running, she could've easily tripped."

"Landed pretty hard for a simple fall don't you think?!"

Dr. Whale was trying his hardest to calm the close to hysterical Ruby but was having no luck. He reached out to touch her arm. She flinched like she was going to pull away but instead she moved closer to him. He was stunned for a split second but then wrapped both his arms around her as she clung to him. They stayed like that for a minute but then footsteps thudded down the stairs and Ruby jerked away from him as if their little moment had never happened.

"Did you find him?" She asked Snow as the later had just barely stepped off the staircase.

"There's nobody up there Ruby." She said softly. Trying to keep her tone light and as gentle as possible.

"What?"  
"Only two of the rooms were even unlocked and we searched them both. Nobody was up there."

"Not possible." Ruby said shaking her head.

"Ruby-"  
"No!" She turned her back on Snow and stormed into Belle's room.


	5. Seeing and Believing

After Ruby's dramatic exit from the hall everyone wandered back into their respective rooms except for Ruby who had gone into Belle and Gold's room. Emma lay on her bed staring at the ceiling. It was one of those textured ceilings that reminded her of the foster home she'd been in when she was younger. That place had been run down like the hotel. Staring at that textured, off-white ceiling she could practically hear the other kids screaming, crying and running around while she sat alone in her room. She closed her eyes. She could still remember the sting from being slapped by the woman in charge. Emma was "nothing but trouble" to her. She was always being punished for something. When she'd talk too loud or say something that wasn't nice she'd have her mouth washed out with soap. When she behaved badly in public she'd get beaten with the belt. The snap of the leather still made her cringe. She could still feel the fear of when she'd hear heels clacking up the stairs to where she was hiding.

There was a soft tapping at her door that tore her away from the painful memories. Before she could respond the door opened slowly and Regina peeked around the door.

"What'd I do now?" Emma tiredly. She really didn't want a fight just now.

Regina looked startled by her response and almost looked ashamed but then the mask was back on and she was back in mayor mode.

"Do you think they really did see something up there?"

Emma didn't answer but just shrugged.

"Because I went into the bathroom in my room and when I came out the closet door was open and everything was scattered about my room."

"What?" Emma jumped off her bed and walked past Regina into the hall. She stopped in the doorway to Regina's room. Just as the mayor had said the closet doors were wide open with one even hanging off the hinges as though it had been thrown open with serious force. Clothes were strewn about. The alarm clock was on it's side in front of the bed. The nightstand was tipped over and the sheets from the bed were hanging half off the bed. The lamp from the nightstand was on it's side in front of the closet which was near the door and no where near the nightstand. The drawers from the desk were all pulled out and papers scattered around it. Emma stepped over a crumpled dark blue shirt and entered the room.

"Holy shit."

"My thoughts exactly." Regina followed her into the room picking up the shirt.

"You're not messing with me are you?"

"Excuse me?"

"You didn't do this and then blame it on a ghost because of what happened to Belle and Ruby are you?"  
"Why would I do that?"

Emma didn't answer and just turned to raise her eyebrows at the other woman.

"I would never wreck my own room and plus these walls are so thin you would've heard me." Regina replied tartly as she picked up another article of clothing. Emma grabbed a jacket from the floor and was about to hand it to Regina when the bathroom light flicked on of it's own accord.

Charming sat in the desk chair flipping his around in his hands waiting for a call or text from Leroy to let him know it was safe to go back to Snow's place. The dwarves had been going around assessing the structural damages to various properties. They had promised to let him know when it was safe to move back in. He clicked the little button on the top of his phone, no new messages.

Snow was standing in front of the window staring out onto the street below, or rather the water on top of it. Every so often she heard the click of Charming checking his phone again.

"I believe them." She said softly without turning to face him but she could see out of the corner of her eye that he whipped around to face her.

"You do?" The concern obvious in his voice.

"Yes." She said with conviction. "Ruby wouldn't make something like this up."

"Yeah but we were up there, there was nobody up there."

Snow finally met his eyes. He looked sad but determined. He wasn't going to believe anything until he saw it.

Snow was about to answer him when the faucet in their bathroom turned on full blast. She jumped back and the window flung open behind her and clipped her elbow on the way up.

"Damn plumbing," Charming calmly walked into the bathroom and tried to shut it off. He twisted the knob but it didn't do anything. He tried twisting it the other way but the water was still gushing from the faucet. "It won't shut off!"

He re-entered the main part of the room to find it freezing and the window wide open. His wife was sitting on the bed with wide eyes. One hand was gripping her elbow the other pointing to the window.

"It opened on it's own." She said shakily. Before Charming could refute her claims a banging came from their door and Emma burst in closely followed by a frightened looking Regina.

Ruby sat at the desk in Belle and Gold's room with her head in her hands. She knew what she'd seen. It WAS real. No matter what the others said. It hurt her that even her best friend hadn't believed her. She just stared at the floor trying not to remember how sinister that figure had been. He was real but she didn't want to see it ever again. The harder she tried to not picture him the clearer the vision of him became. Those empty black eyes that seemed to see right through her. That screeching noise still rang in her ears.

Belle was asleep across the bed with her head in Gold's lap. He gently stroked her hair. Her bandaged hand held onto his leg. It angered him that something had harmed his Belle. Charming and Snow hadn't found anything upstairs but that didn't mean something wasn't here. He felt it, this place wasn't nearly as empty as it seemed. It was like something nagging at the back of his mind but he couldn't get a clear picture on it.

Gold glanced up from Belle to look across the room at the very distressed Ruby. She was running her hands through her hair.

"You're not crazy, dearie."

"I know."

"That's entirely true though is it? If it was you wouldn't be so bothered."

"I saw something up there. I know it. It scared the shit outta me."

Just then footsteps thudded up the hallway towards their room followed by banging on a door.

"Oh good, more excitement." Gold said with an amused tone. Ruby shot out of her chair and ran out to see what the commotion was.


	6. If It Looks Like A Ruby

"It was real!"

"All her shit was on the floor!"  
"It's just plumbing!"

"It's that man from upstairs!"

"That window was stuck shut!"  
"What about when I felt someone sit on the bed!"  
"Faulty freaking plumbing!"

"I was pushed!"

"It's just-"

"EVERYBODY SHUT UP!"

Everyone turned to Mr. Gold. Nobody dared to back talk. He centered himself and waited a few seconds to make sure they weren't going to start arguing again.

"Everyone needs to just calm down. Anger and fear just feed these things and will only make it worse."

"You sound like you've had first hand experience," Emma accused him but he just smiled slightly.

"Not exactly."

"Spit it out Gold." Charming snapped causing Snow to glare at him.

"Well with that attitude-"

"Rumple," Belle stepped over to him and placed a hand on his arm. "Please."

"Nothing on this floor will hurt you. It's mischievous, not harmful."

"How do you know?" Whale asked in disbelief as he crossed his arms.

"What about Belle? How could you just let it attack her?" Ruby demanded at the same time. Belle backed away from him a little bit so she could look him in the eyes better but didn't let go of his arm.

"For starters I didn't _let_ it do anything. Don't you think I would've stopped it if I'd known?" Gold growled at Ruby. Earning him a soft "be nice" from Belle.

"Anyway, I know because I can feel it."

Emma scoffed.

"It's magic, a particularly dark magic at that. Not something I personally dabbled in though I was tempted a few times."

"How dark?" Regina asked.

"You know how I always told you there were things magic couldn't do?" He asked her pointedly.

"Yes, it can't bring back the dead or make someone truly love you."

"And there was a reason I never really let you try that first. It requires a lot of power, a lot of sacrifice and a willingness to relinquish everything good about yourself. It has never worked but when someone tries and fails there are consequences in the spirit realm. The magic is cast out in an explosion of sorts and many lost souls get brought back to this plane." He paused for a moment to read their expressions. Charming looked a little confused. Emma looked disgusted. Regina's face was emotionless but he could she the fear in her eyes. All these years later and certain types of magic still bothered her. Snow and Ruby were staring back at him waiting for him to finish. Whale was shaking his head, his face was remarkably stoic which surprised Gold. He looked to Belle last, her wide blue eyes scanned his face trying to judge just how serious the situation really was.

"This feels like the remnants of magic from an attempt to bring back the dead. If that's true, then there are a lot more souls or spirits or entities floating around then just what we've encountered." He delivered the blow softly. He felt Belle's hand tighten on his arm but she was trying to remain calm on the outside. He'd always admired her bravery.

"Like I said earlier though, this floor seems harmless. It's just a bit of a pain in the ass that's all."

His speech did seem to comfort them for the most part. They at least weren't yelling at each other anymore which was what he wanted from the start. He sighed and looked down at Belle. Concern was still etched on her face but she gave him a small smile, grabbed his hand and led him to their room.

Most of them spent the rest of the day without speaking to each other. Regina tried half heartedly to put away her things. Ruby sat on her bed and stared out the window. Whale took more than a few swigs from the flask he'd brought with him.

The alcohol wasn't helping him near as much as he'd hoped. He felt the tell tale tingling in his body but he couldn't seem to get past that point. Ruby had been so close. He'd held her and comforted her. His heart pounded at just the memory but he knew better than to get involved. No matter how right it felt to him. No matter how much he ached to go check on her and comfort her. Everyone he loved died, or worse he killed them, killed what made them who they were. His brother had been best friend and been an honored soldier and good son and Victor had turned him into a murderous monster. His father was dead because of him. His father had always blamed him for his mother's death and why not? Everything else was his fault.

Whale flopped back on the bed, flask still in hand as a little slopped out onto the bedspread. He didn't care. What if Ruby felt about him the way he felt about her? No. Not possible. As soon as people were around she jumped away like she'd been electrocuted. She was ashamed of him. She didn't want to be seen with the monster. Frankenstein. The monster. He stared at the ceiling for some time when there was a knock at the door.

He mumbled a "come in" and in walked the very woman who had dogged his thoughts for the past 28 years. She was in a flimsy nightgown and her bare feet barely made any noise as she sauntered over to him. He sat up so fast the flask was flung to the floor.

"Ruby." His voice came out far shakier than he liked but she didn't say anything, just came to stand in front of him. She was so close he could smell her perfume. The scent flooded his brain making it hard for him to think about anything but her and how much he wanted her. She silently ran a hand through his short hair a tenderness in her eyes as she smiled at him. He smiled back and then she proceeded to forcefully shove him back on the bed. Faster than humanly possible she was on top of him and had his arms pinned above his head.

"Whoa," was all he could say. It was a little fast but he'd wanted it so long he didn't even care. If this was what she wanted it was what he wanted. She ran a finger down the collar of his shirt, just barely grazing the skin. She hooked a finger under the top button and with a smirk ripped it all the way down, sending buttons flying.

"Hey, I like this shirt-" He was cut off by her pressing a finger to his lips. The other hand was roaming further south. She reached his belt and just like with the shirt she just yanked it off of him. When she started on his pants he pulled her in for a kiss.

Her lips met his with a searing heat. It was the best kiss he'd ever had. Just then she dragged her nails down his chest, hard. He pulled away and looked down. Blood ran down his chest in four jagged lines. He gingerly touched the blood. He pulled his hand away and looked horrified at the blood that was on his finger tips. As he looked Ruby took his blood tinted hand and stuck his fingers in her mouth sucking them clean of all the blood.

His jaw dropped. He'd seen some weird shit in his life but this took the cake. She watched his eyes the whole time and when she was finished she just smiled at him.

"Your turn" she said in a sickly sweet way. He was suddenly aware of a weight in his hand and found that his fingers were curled around a rather large kitchen knife. Ruby took that hand and gently stroked the blade and then trailed down to his hand. Then she took his knife clutching hand in both of hers. She closed her eyes, cast her head skywards and plunged the knife into her chest.

Whale let out an involuntary yell. He could feel the thick warm wetness of her blood spilling over his hand, onto his arm. He yanked the knife back, she dropped her arms but kept her head looking up. The blood streamed onto the sheets, soaking into his pants. Her nightgown was now bright red and plastered to her body.

He scrambled off the bed and fell onto the floor leaving a sticky trail behind him. He scramble-crawled to the wall and looked back at her in fear. She was laughing. He knew Ruby's laugh and this wasn't it. It looked like Ruby, smelled like Ruby but it wasn't Ruby. As if the fake Ruby could read his mind she turned to look at him. She smiled again as the air started to ripple around her. A different woman now sat on his bed soaked in blood.

She was blonde and much smaller than Ruby. She had an angular face and the most startling green eyes he'd ever seen. She was absolutely breathtaking, or she would have been had she not been covered in blood. She smiled a smile with a perfect set of white teeth.

Whale blinked and he opened his eyes again he was laying on the bed. The fan above him was making a rickety noise as it spun. He sat up. The blonde woman was gone. The blood was gone. His shirt was still properly buttoned. He lay back down setting his elbow down on something wet. He jerked away instantly expecting it to be blood.

Instead he found that his flask had been completely spilled onto the bed and now the elbow of his shirt was soaked in the booze he'd been hoping to drink.

"Shit." He started to unbutton the shirt as he walked to his closet to fetch a new one. He slid it off his shoulders as he opened the closet door. He was standing there shirtless as he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and immediately stopped what he doing. Right down his chest were four thin scratch marks. Not deep enough for any blood but red enough he could easily see them.


	7. Wrong Night For A Midnight Snack

Regina paced back and forth in her room. She was waiting for something to happen. Nothing else in her room moved. She was waiting for something to show itself again. Every time she passed the bathroom she glanced in waiting to see if the lights would come on. She glared at the nightstand as if challenging it to topple over. The closet stayed closed no matter how much time she spent looking at it. The squeak of the floor under the window and her steady footsteps were the only sounds in the room.

The world outside her window grew dark as night fell and Regina continued pacing but now it was more frantic. Darkness used to feel like her territory. She used to thrive on nightfall, and now she felt like she was prey. A sitting duck just waiting for whatever it was the lurked in the shadows of this hotel from hell.

She started to hear thumping and froze in her tracks. _Thump thump. Thump thump. Thump thump._ It was a steady two beat rhythm. She turned to face the wall, where it seemed to be coming from. It had to be Emma. It was the wall between the rooms, but what on Earth could she be doing?

Regina slowly stepped closer and closer to the wall. The thumping continued, a little faster as she got closer. It was then that she realized what it sounded like.

It was a heartbeat.

Of all people she should've been the most familiar with that sound. How many times had she held a beating heart in her hand, felt that throbbing as it sped it up in fear or stopped the beating forever just with a little squeeze.

She stepped closer, the beating sped up. Another step. It was getting louder too. Another carefully placed step closer as if a bomb was under the floor and any wrong step would blow the whole place away. Another step. The beating was now painfully fast. Regina's own heart was pounding pretty good now too as she stood only a foot away.

She leaned in towards the wall. The sound was definitely coming from there.

"Emma?!" She leaned an ear towards the wall.

"Emma?!" She called a little louder but there was still no response. She turned her head again so that she was facing the wall. Was it moving?

The wall itself seemed to be vibrating with the thumps, like a giant heart was trapped between the two rooms and was beating against the wall.

Regina gently raised her arm, her fingers hovered just above the faded wallpaper. The beating stopped. The silence in the room was smothering and Regina's ears started to ring as a pressure built up in them. She was so startled she set her hand against the wall for balance.

She sighed and tried to slide her hand back down to her side but it was stuck. She pulled harder but the wall came back with her hand like gum stuck to the bottom of the shoe. It shocked her and she stopped pulling. The wall sucked itself back with jerk and Regina was thrown forwards and put her other hand out to keep from going face first into the wall. Now both hands were suctioned to the wall. With a cry of frustration she pulled on her other arm. She used all her body weight to try to pull away from the wall. A sharp crack shot through the room as a sharp pain shot through her left shoulder. The way snapped back into place dragging her along with it. Her face with the wall with a smack and she would feel the wall sucking her further in. Where it touched her was ice cold. She could feel the wallpaper flow over her in a liquid movement. She tried in vain to pull away but it pulled her back in.

Charming was sleeping on a pile of blankets on the floor of his room. Or at least he was trying to. Sleeping on the floor had even been his idea, but no he was seriously regretting his moment of nobleness. Ruby had been too scared to sleep in her own room so now she was bunking with Snow and Charming, being the gentleman, had opted to sleep on the floor so they had more room.

Now he his back was starting to ache from the hardness of the floor. He rolled onto his left side. Facing the door with his back to the bed. The lights in the hallway leaked through the gap under the door quite a bit and illuminated the snags in the carpet and what looked like a few dead bugs as well. _Great._

Once his shoulder started to hurt he rolled to his other side. He closed his eyes again trying harder to sleep. His stomach started growling. He couldn't sleep anyway, might as well sneak out for a midnight snack. He sat up and peeked over at the two women, making sure they were both asleep before tiptoeing to the door. He opened and closed it as gently, trying to be as quiet as possible. He turned around and found himself facing someone else and almost jumped out of his skin.

"Belle!" He hissed. "You scared the crap outta."

"Sorry," she whispered sheepishly.

"What're you doing up?" He asked. Belle gave an embarrassed smile.

"I was kinda hungry."

"Well then," he started with a little laugh "let's go get something to eat then."

Belle smiled and followed him. Both of them walking quietly and carefully as though not to disturb anything. The hotel definitely did not feel as empty as it had seemed when they first entered.

They had just gotten to the third floor landing when Charming became aware of the sound of footsteps above him coming down from the fifth floor. He stopped and turned to look causing Belle to bump into him.

"What?" She turned to look where he was looking. The lighting in the stairways was minimal so it was hard to see much further than 10 feet or so but there was no one there.

"Didn't you hear that?" He asked her quietly the footsteps had stopped when he did but he still strained his ears to hear if they'd start again.

"I didn't hear anything." She whispered back to him. He looked disappointed and cautiously started back down the stairs. He walked slowly keeping an ear out for the footsteps and sure enough once they'd gotten just over halfway down another set of stairs they started again and this time Charming was ready for it.

He raced back up the stairs careful not to run into Belle. He was determined to find out who was messing with him.

"David!" Belle called after him. The light in the stairway flickered and he was gone. She followed him but when she got to the landing on the third floor something stopped her. It wasn't anything she could explain but she just stopped there. She stood there shivering slightly in her thin pajamas. She turned her head to look into the hallway and as she did so she was hit with an ice cold burst of air.

She shut her eyes tightly and when she opened them the hallway seemed foggy, like she was in a dream. The lights were all lit up. The paint on the walls looked brighter. There were people chatting on their way up the stairs. It was a couple walking arm in arm up from the second floor. They passed Belle as if she wasn't even there. They kept going on up but Belle walked forwards into the hallway. The carpet was less frayed. There weren't any stains.

The doors were a nice neat and the plaques next to them shined in the light. She felt drawn further down the hall.

"_Dammit, this is the last fucking time Mike!"  
"I already told you! She. Was. NOTHING!"_

Belle watched as a disheveled middle aged man stumbled out of the room just in front of her. He ran into the wall on the opposite side and turned around with a snarl.

"_Fucking bitch!"_

"_Well you're a jackass and I hope your dick rots off."_

Belle couldn't see the woman but her shadow covered part of the man.

"_I already told you! I didn't cheat!"_

The woman didn't say anything but Belle could see her shadow move and the man suddenly looked fearful.

"_I swear-" BANG_

Belle jumped as the man was jerked backwards with the force of the shot. Blood splattered against the wall behind him. He staggered back and fell to the ground with a thud.

The air whirled around and for a moment Belle couldn't see anything but when she could the man was gone but now a stain was in the carpet.

A younger woman was leaning against a door closer to the hall now. Her long blonde hair hid her face from Belle but she didn't need to see it to know how miserable she was. Heart wrenching sobs came from her that shook her whole body.

She was almost the same size as Belle but she seemed much more frail than Belle. When she moved Belle could see makeup lines down her face.

"_Daddy, please."_ She barely got the words out between sobs. Belle could hear movement from the room.

"_You're nothing but a whore. A filthy stinking whore. Not my daughter."_

"_Daddy!"_

"_I'm warning you if you don't get outta here-"_

She just pounded on the door harder.

"_Last chance!"_ He hollered.

"_Please!"_

Belle jumped again as another shot when off. This one came through the door, blasting a hole through it and killing the woman. Some of the blood splattered onto Belle's pajamas.

She couldn't help the tears that formed in her eyes. Darkness she could deal with, after all she was Rumpelstiltskin's lover. Dealing with darkness came with the territory, she didn't like it but it wasn't exactly avoidable. This was just too much for her. She sat down against the wall as more scenarios played out. Her silent tears going unnoticed by more victims.

The hotel aged as the people continued their seemingly unending stream of violence until a familiar voice floated in through the haziness.

"Belle?" She lifted her head. For moment she thought she'd imagined it. But then he called again.

"Rumple!" She couldn't see him but she definitely heard him.

He turned into the hallway. The cold breeze she'd been feeling kicked up so that her hair was now whipping around her face. The doors all swung open and shattered against the walls. Fragments of wood flew everywhere. Belle threw an arm up to try shield her face.

"Rumple!" She tried again. She moved forward but it felt like the hallway was suddenly much longer and the carpet below was reaching out and trying to drag her under.

"Belle!" She couldn't see him anymore. The whole hall shook and pieces from the ceiling started to fall. Cracks ran up the walls and with each step Belle took she sunk further into the floor until she was up to her knees.

"Rumple!" She cried out desperately as she continued to sink. A piece of wood snagged her face. Tears welled up again. She could hear him calling for her again but there was too much debris flying around and she was now waist deep in the floor and sinking fast.

Then there was a blinding flash of light and heat. She was blasted out of the floor and thrown several feet back and landed with a hard thud. The wind stopped. The floor was no longer trying to drag her down, the walls were back to their normal decaying state. The dream-like state Belle had been in was gone and the world was crystal clear again. She was laying in the once again darkened hallway and someone was rushing towards her.

Belle immediately hopped up off the ground and threw herself at Gold. She clung to him and he returned it. He kissed her forehead.

"Your curiosity, I swear." He said exasperatedly.

He kept an arm around her shoulders as they walked back out onto the landing where Charming, Snow and Ruby stood.


End file.
